Great are the works of the Lord! (Psalm 111, 2)

“Yes, great are the works of the Lord! Nothing in the whole universe has as much grandeur as the transformation that grace brings about in a human being: a handful of dust of the earth is exalted to the extreme of sharing in the divine nature and receiving adoption as a child of God in Christ.” This is how Blessed Alvaro del Portillo described the meaning of the raising to the altars* of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei (Work of God, in Latin).

Josemaria Escriva was born in Spain on January 9, 1902. His parents, Jose and Maria Dolores, had six children. They gave their children a deep Catholic upbringing. He had a great inclination towards the field of architecture when he was small.

In his teens, Josemaria sensed that God was calling him to something. He was greatly moved when he saw the footprints in the snow left by a barefoot friar. “If others can make such sacrifices for God, can’t I offer him something?… “I began to have intimations of Love, to realize that my heart was asking for something great, and that it was love. I didn’t know what God wanted of me, but it was evident that I had been chosen for something.” (Footprints in the Snow)

He prayed ardently to our Lord to make him see what he wanted. Thinking that would help him discover and carry out will of God, he entered the priesthood. He was ordained in 1925 and exercised his pastoral work in Saragossa and Madrid.

On October 2, 1928, while doing a spiritual retreat, Fr. Josemaria saw that God was asking him to found Opus Dei, “a way of sanctification in daily work and in the fulfillment of the ordinary duties of a Christian.” (Prayer card) A path was opening up in the Church which is “as old and as new as the Gospel” — Old, because everyone is called to sanctity, and new, because this sanctification happens in one’s work.

Great are the works of the Lord! In the first place, every person is a work of the Lord. All men and women are called to sanctity.

“We have been chosen gratuitously by Our Lord. His choice of us sets us a clear goal. Our goal is personal sanctity, as St Paul insistently reminds us, haec est voluntas Dei: sanctificatio vestra, ‘this is the Will of God: your sanctification’. Let us not forget, then, that we are in our Master’s sheepfold in order to achieve that goal.” (Friends of God, 2)

“You have the obligation to sanctify yourself. Yes even you! Who thinks this is the exclusive concern of priests and religious? To everyone, without exception, Our Lord said: ‘Be perfect as My Heavenly Father is perfect.’” (The Way, 291)

Great are the works of the Lord! In the second place, the work of the Lord can be accomplished in us when we carry out our ordinary work.

“God is calling you to serve him in and from the ordinary, material and secular activities of human life. He awaits us every day, in the laboratory, in the operating room, in the army barracks, in the university, in the factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the home, and in all the immense panorama of work. Understand this well: there is something divine hidden in the most ordinary situations and it is up to each one of you to discover it.” (Conversations with Msgr. Escriva, 114)

This is very relevant to the laity today. “They live in the world, that is, they are engaged in each and every work and business of the earth and in the ordinary circumstances of social and family life which, as it were, constitute their very existence. There they are called by God that, being led by the spirit of the Gospel, they may contribute to the sanctification of the world, as from within like leaven, by fulfilling their own particular duties.” (Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, 31)

Since the beginning of Opus Dei, many persons throughout the world have been inspired by the teachings of Saint Josemaria.

Today, June 26, the feast day of Saint Josemaria, let us ask him to intercede for us that we may truly be the work of the Lord while we are carrying out our daily work.

*Saint Josemaria was beatified (May 17, 1992) and canonized (October 6, 2002) in Rome. More information can be found in https://opusdei.org and https://www.escrivaworks.org.

(Fr. Emmanuel Esguerra)